Benghazi , Libya -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Hip-hop artists do n't often smile , so it was no surprise that Libyan rapper MC Swat scowled suspiciously when I first walked into his cramped , cigarette smoke-filled studio in a former government building in Benghazi .

This is where MC Swat , 23 , has been writing scathing lyrics about the Gadhafi regime ever since Libya 's uprising began in February .

Libyan musicians and artists probably have a right to be wary of strangers . For decades , they say , they feared agents and paid informants of Moammar Gadhafi 's repressive regime who reported to the government any work they deemed hostile to the state .

When asked what would happen if he rapped his anti-regime lyrics prior to Libya 's uprising , MC Swat said , `` I would be shot to death like Tupac , '' referring to the American rapper killed in 1996 .

But here in Benghazi , the opposition 's de facto capital , there 's no sign of Gadhafi 's loyalists anymore -- or the fear that kept artists like MC Swat quiet for so long . A newfound freedom of expression has sparked an explosion in revolutionary music and art .

Much of it takes place in a five-story building -- a government building turned cultural center -- that is steps away from the Mediterranean Sea . The building 's hallways are covered with art and anti-regime cartoons , and the rooms are often buzzing through the wee hours of the morning with dozens of young revolutionary artists at work .

`` Tomorrow we will take over our land , '' MC Swat raps in his second-floor studio , his DJ and machine gun-toting friend by his side . `` Moammar , we 're coming with a mass revolution . ''

A few doors down , 26-year-old Saleh Dreisi sketches a giant caricature of Gadhafi .

On the third floor , the rock band Guys Underground practices its latest song dedicated to the revolution .

`` When you get in this building , you 're going to find yourself in another world , '' said Marrawan Gargoun , the lead singer for Guys Underground . `` It 's like being Alice in Wonderland . It 's an amazing feeling I 've never had in my life . ''

`` It feels like we 're touching freedom , '' said MC Swat , who often sleeps overnight in his studio .

The revolution 's young artists say they represent the real Libya , and they bristle at allegations that Libya 's rebels include elements of al Qaeda and Islamist extremists .

`` You can find men with beards , but they 're respectful Muslims , '' MC Swat said . `` They 're not terrorists . You can see they have weapons , but they 're fighting for our freedom . They 're not al Qaeda . ''

Gagoun said , `` We were buried for 42 years , but this is the true Libya . ''

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A newfound freedom of speech has been embraced by Libyan musicians and artists

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One Libyan rocker : `` It 's an amazing feeling I 've never had in my life ''

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The artists say the Libyan rebels have weapons , but they 're not terrorists